Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska

1977 tornadoes in Nebraska

68 tornadoes touched down in Nebraska in 1977, 61 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody. 1 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

1976 1978 The whole country in 1977

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
F2113 to 157 mph
Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.
F3158 to 206 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
F5261 to 318 mph
Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.
Unrated
The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in Nebraska in 1977

April 11 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 11	1:38 PM MST	F1	Keith	0.5	30		1	$5,000 to $50,000

April 12 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 12	3:50 PM CST	F0	Wheeler	0.2	30

April 16 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 16	3:00 PM CST	F1	Dodge	1.5	50			$5,000 to $50,000

April 17 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 17	4:46 PM CST	F0	Custer	0.1	10

May 2 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 2	2:05 PM CDT	F1	Phelps	0.5	30			$5,000 to $50,000

May 4 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 4	4:20 PM CDT	F3	Colfax	7.6	200	$50,000 to $500,000
May 4	4:25 PM CDT	F0	Stanton	0.2	20
May 4	5:15 PM CDT	F1	Saunders	0.5	20	$500 to $5,000

May 14 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 14	5:15 PM MDT	F1	Kimball	0.2	20			$50 to $500
May 14	5:30 PM MDT	F1	Box Butte	0.3	20			$500 to $5,000

May 16 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 16	7:35 PM CDT	F0	Webster	0.1	10
May 16	7:50 PM CDT	F3	Adams	47.3	50	$5,000 to $50,000
May 16	9:00 PM CDT	F0	York	0.1	10
May 16	9:23 PM CDT	F0	Buffalo	0.2	30

May 18 10 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 18	3:00 PM CDT	F0	Hayes	0.2	30
May 18	3:40 PM MDT	F1	Arthur	0.5	50	$50,000 to $500,000
May 18	3:45 PM MDT	F1	Grant	0.3	30	$5,000 to $50,000
May 18	5:00 PM CDT	F1	Lincoln	0.2	30	$5,000 to $50,000
May 18	4:30 PM MDT	F3	Cherry	18.8	50	$5,000 to $50,000
May 18	4:30 PM MDT	F2	Cherry	19.7	50	$5,000 to $50,000
May 18	8:15 PM CDT	F1	Furnas	0.1	20	$500 to $5,000
May 18	8:30 PM CDT	F1	Dawson	0.2	20	$5,000 to $50,000
May 18	9:31 PM CDT	F0	Buffalo	0.2	30
May 18	11:25 PM CDT	F1	Antelope	0.5	30	$500 to $5,000

May 19 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 19	3:45 PM CDT	F1	Hall	2.0	50	$500 to $5,000
May 19	4:15 PM CDT	F2	Hall	20.8	50	$50,000 to $500,000
May 19	4:35 PM CDT	F0	Adams	0.2	20
May 19	4:40 PM CDT	F0	Hall	0.2	30
May 19	5:30 PM CDT	F1	Hall	0.5	50	$5,000 to $50,000
May 19	5:30 PM CDT	F0	Hall	0.2	30

May 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 20	2:45 PM CDT	F1	Hitchcock	0.1	20			$5,000 to $50,000

May 21 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 21	2:25 PM CDT	F0	Buffalo	0.1	20
May 21	4:00 PM CDT	F0	Boyd	0.2	30

May 25 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
May 25	8:30 PM CDT	F0	Buffalo	0.1	20
May 25	9:00 PM CDT	F0	Custer	0.1	20
May 25	9:00 PM CDT	F0	Custer	0.1	20

May 26 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 26	2:30 PM CDT	F1	Custer	0.1	20			$50 to $500
May 26	3:20 PM CDT	F1	Saunders	0.2	30			$50 to $500

May 30 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 30	6:00 AM CDT	F2	Frontier	1.9	50

June 9 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 9	6:40 PM MDT	F2	Scotts Bluff	2.3	70			$50,000 to $500,000

June 12 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 12	7:35 PM CDT	F0	Webster	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000

June 14 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 14	6:40 PM MDT	F1	Scotts Bluff	0.5	30
June 14	7:00 PM MDT	F2	Scotts Bluff	1.9	70

June 17 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 17	12:00 PM CDT	F1	York	2.6	70			$50,000 to $500,000

June 22 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 22	9:00 PM CDT	F1	Knox	2.0	30			$500 to $5,000
June 22	9:30 PM CDT	F0	Antelope	0.2	30			$50 to $500

June 29 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 29	5:30 PM MDT	F2	Kimball	0.1	50			$5,000 to $50,000

July 7 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 7	3:30 AM CDT	F4	Thurston	22.6	77			$500,000 to $5 million

July 9 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 9	9:20 PM CDT	F1	Lincoln	1.5	30			$50,000 to $500,000

July 10 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
July 10	6:00 PM CDT	F2	Bennett to SD	15.9	30	$50,000 to $500,000
July 10	5:15 PM MDT	F0	Cherry	0.5	30
July 10	7:00 PM MDT	F3	Arthur	7.8	40	$5,000 to $50,000

July 23 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 23	3:30 PM MDT	F1	Cherry	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000

July 24 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 24	6:38 AM CDT	F1	Dodge	0.1	10			$50,000 to $500,000

July 30 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 30	2:30 AM CDT	F1	Thurston	0.1	10			$50,000 to $500,000

August 3 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 3	12:35 AM CDT	F1	Thayer	0.1	10			$50,000 to $500,000

August 7 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 7	3:00 PM MDT	F0	Morrill	0.1	10
August 7	4:10 PM MDT	F0	Cheyenne	0.1	10

August 15 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 15	9:30 PM CDT	F1	Lancaster	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000

August 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 20	8:50 PM CDT	F1	Washington	0.1	10			$500,000 to $5 million

August 24 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 24	4:30 PM MDT	F1	Morrill	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000

August 30 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 30	5:30 PM CDT	F0	Buffalo	0.1	10
August 30	6:00 PM CDT	F0	Adams	0.1	10

September 1 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 1	8:15 PM CDT	F1	Franklin	0.5	10			$500 to $5,000
September 1	9:45 PM CDT	F1	Hall	0.5	17			$50,000 to $500,000

September 11 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 11	7:35 PM CDT	F3	Adams	6.6	10			$5,000 to $50,000

September 29 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 29	7:30 PM CDT	F0	Hayes	0.5	10
September 29	8:00 PM CDT	F0	Hayes	0.1	10

Nearby

Every tornado in Nebraska since 1950 Warnings in force in Nebraska The live radar over Nebraska

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.